Mary
Dailey Brown, founder and CEO of SowHope, will give a presentation at
Ferris State University in IRC 120 on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. The
event, presented by Ferris’ Globalization Initiative, will showcase
Brown’s inspiring projects aimed at one of the most disadvantaged groups
globally, women who make less than $2 per day.

“It’s easy to
feel helpless about having any impact on global problems, so we want the
Ferris community to hear about something exciting going on,” said
Rebecca Sammel, an assistant professor in Languages and Literature at
Ferris and a member of the Globalization Initiative Steering Committee.
“Mary Dailey Brown uses a self-help model that is effective in both
individual lives and communities around the world. Students will see how
the SowHope model can work here in Michigan communities as well.”

SowHope
helps disadvantaged women through programs that include loans,
healthcare, counseling, scholarships, literacy classes and vocational
training. The organization has supported more than 18,000 women in nine
developing countries.

SowHope has implemented an
anti-human-trafficking program in Bangladesh, where 50 girls a day are
kidnapped into lives of forced prostitution in Pakistan and India. In
the Democratic Republic of Congo, SowHope has helped to build a birthing
center for poor women. In Rwanda, young women with AIDS can learn math,
reading, writing and sewing through the efforts of SowHope. In Uganda,
SowHope is helping 60 women develop financial independence by obtaining
microloans for businesses.

“We were interested in Mary because
she helps women help themselves,” Sammel said. “Her work empowers women
to become self-reliant and productive, against the odds of extreme
poverty. The success of her self-help model is very impressive.”

Brown earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University, where she majored
in Psychology and Photography.